European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday november 30, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 17 Money matters Leroy and his pig drawing collectors to military markets in one of its biggest diversification moves outside of Italy the Agnelli family which controls the Fiat automobile group began a takeover bid thursday for exor . The French holding company owns big stakes in Perrier the bottled water company and chateau Margaux the elite Bordeaux winemaker. In a communique thursday officials of the bourse Frances Stock Exchange in Paris announced that an Agnelli holding company was offering s326 million for 1.36 million shares of exor which would raise the a Nellis holdings to two thirds of the Paris based company. A senior exor official said his company considered the a Nellis offer a Friendly  rates London up Friday s rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $366.25 an ounce Silver at $4.06. Nov. 28 nov. 29 British pound.1.7685 1.7647 German mark.1.6170 1.6270 French franc.5.5140 5.5770 dutch ouilder.1.b20b 1.8343 belgian iranc.33,28 33.57 italian lira.1,217,25 1,228.50 Swiss franc.1.4275 1.4355 greek drachma.183.51 185.72 turkish lira .5.016.30 5,060.10 saudi arabian rtyal.3.7495 3.7495 Spanish peseta.102.71 103.92 portuguese escudo.143.50 144.57 Canadian dollar.1.1343 1.1351 austrian schilling.11.3375 11.49 norwegian krone.6.3430 6.4220 danish krone.6.2625 6.3450 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.59 through monday based on fridays noontime Price fixing. By Effie Bathen staff writer move Over Rosy cheeked toddlers from Germany porcelain Robed ladies from Spain and cozy cottages from England. A most unlikely character is climbing his Way into collectors lighted cabinets these Days. Make room for Leroy and his pig. Pig Well his Mother told Leroy to find a new pet. A and leave it to Leroy. He went to Market and brought Back a pig in a Straw hat a said Peter tomlins creator of the Leroy figurine series. The hand painted stoneware figures Are made by nature Craft Ltd. Of Dongle ton England about 150 Miles North of London. Each piece features the mischievous antics of a 12-year-old Black boy from the deep South tomlins said. A they live in a Little town at the Back end of nowhere a he said telling the Story of the 1930s Vintage family As if they were Kinfolk. And there was the time when Leroy so mum and dad were having their wedding vows rededicated. A Well Leroy turns up at the last minute and steals his dads top hat and puts it on a pig for the photo a he said in describing one piece. A when you create them you feel like you Are part of them a said tomlins who along with his wife Jean is co director of the company that also makes the memory Lane hand painted cottages. A a a done to be so Daft a you la never sell those a a tomlins said naysayers told him 17 years ago when the Dungaree Clad scamp was test marketed. The Leroy series is a Quot highly collectible Quot line comparable in popularity to Hummel and a Laird figurines or David Winter cottages a Marta Boggio an cafes merchandising manager Staffordshire born and bred tomlins said he can to pinpoint his inspiration for the poor Black characters. A they Are a compilation of my experiences a he said. His travels have taken him As far As Dallas but the Early figures were created after some Island hopping in the Caribbean. A and sometimes 1 see a lot of Bill Cosby in Leroy a father a tomlins said. Today the Leroy series is distributed in 22 countries and aboard cruise ships in the Caribbean tomlins said. And Leroy a gets a great Post bag every Day of letters from around the world. Many Are from people in military communities complaining that Leroy sell out within hours when they go on Sale in their exchanges tomlins said. Indeed the Leroy series is a a highly collectibles line comparable in popularity to Hummel and a Laird figurines or David Winter cottages said Marta Boggio a merchandising manager at cafes Headquarters in Munich Germany. It is also one of the few Black heritage lines available Boggio said. Some other figurine manufacturers like a Laird in Spain and por Calanc Principe in Italy offer Black heritage figures that can Cost hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars Boggio said. Three to 4 inches Worth of Leroy on the other hand Cost on Quarter to one third the Price of a similarly sized Hummel but sell out three to four times As fast she said. Although hummels May be of finer Quality a special order of 300 or so Leroy can sell out in about a week at a Large Post or base Exchange such As those in the German cities of Firth or Kaiserslautern she said. Leroy a pals and pranks arc priced at about $25 to $75 in european military exchanges. Remona Bourand a military family member at fort Hood Texas started her collection about four years ago when her husband was stationed in Kaiserslautern. Her collection a with some pieces that she bought a dozen at a time a includes part of another tomlins series of Black children at play called the Poppets. A it just brings Back memories of naughty Little things a childish things a said Bourand who is Black and grew up in the 1950s in an Arkansas town called Dermott. A it reminds me of How i was As a child a Bourand said. A now i look at my children and think How they Are  tomlins said he has not heard any criticism that his characters further a negative Black stereotype. A Leroy is just very lovable a he said. Peter tomlins is scheduled to visit the Furth Exchange today and sunday Tor a demonstration and autograph session. No other Public appearances Are scheduled in Europe until the 1992 series is introduced in january. Mired Middle class is real cause y of consumer doldrums expert say salaried staff at pm loses Holiday Bonus Detroit a general motors corp. Has cancelled this year s Christmas bonuses for its salaried workers because the automaker is struggling through one of the worst economic slumps in its history. About 100,000 pm employees in the United states and 7,000 in Canada wont get the annual $600 Holiday bonuses a move the automaker says will save it More than $60 million company spokesman John Mueller said. Gmys 300,000 hourly workers covered by the United Auto workers will get their bonuses Mueller said. The bonuses will be paid next week. A we did discuss the possibility with the Law a he said. A it was their decision not to ask their members to forgo the Christmas  pm has lost More than $2.2 billion through the first nine months this year including $1.1 billion in losses during the third Quarter. At years end pm Ford motor co. And Chrysler corp. Are expected to report their worst financial year since 1980, when they lost a combined $4.5 billion. By Leonard silk the new York times what ails the consumer the conference boards Index of consumer Confidence has plunged below the lowest level it hit in the 1982 recession. Consumer spending is Down and the department stores Are already announcing pre Christmas sales with discounts up to 50 percent. Many people Are trying to explain the consumer a gloom through pop psychology she or he has been shaken by someone or something. Here the villains differ. The Media Are a favorite of some while others Point to the vacillation of president Bush on economic policy. Others blame the Battles Between conservatives who want to hold tight and Supply siders who want to slash taxes. Some say it is the Republican rights Challenge to Bush a leadership the divisions and inertia among the democrats Public anxiety Over both Public and private corruption or racial tensions. But the recession itself looks like the common cause of these anxiety makers. Rejecting pop psychology professor Rudiger Dornbusch of the Massachusetts Institute of technology offers an economic explanation for the gloom a the economic situation of the Middle class and of lower income households has been  median real wages of male workers Are now below the 1970 level he said adding a no Progress in 20 years Quot until the current recession Consumers made up for the income squeeze by going deeper into debt. Consumer debt As a share of personal income after taxes Rose from 62.7 percent in 1970 to 74.9 percent in 1980. It reached 96.9 percent in 1990. But indebtedness has limits. When unemployment rises even those still working worry about their jobs so they Cut Back on borrowing and buying even with inflation and interest rates going Down. What to do the president and Congress before it adjourned this week until january went through a final burst of activity to prove that they cared. Congress passed and the president indicated he would sign a $151 billion six year transportation Bill advertised to create up to 4 million jobs. That is a huge overstatement if taken to mean additional jobs according to experts at the congressional budget office and in the Bush administration. If the present level of transportation spending were projected to continue for six years it would total $120 billion. The new Bill will increase total transportation spending by Only $31 billion Over six years annual outlays will Rise about $3 billion in 1992, $7 billion in 1993 and an average of about $5 billion in each of the following four years. The net increase in construction jobs is Likely to be closer to 100,000 in 1992, not 4 million. Mostly the Bill will save jobs it will not create Many. Congress also approved a total of More than $100 billion to bail out Banks and savings and loan associations but these measures will not create jobs. About $70 billion of that Money will go to the governments insurance fund to protect depositors thus presumably keeping them from withdrawing their Money. This is a crucial move to prevent financial disaster but one unlikely to cause depositors to step up their rate of spending. And Congress weighed a tax Cut package that included a capital gains tax rate reduction to 20 percent from 28 percent a new investment retirement account and other measures proposed by rep. Newt Gingrich r-ga., and the House Republican policy committee. The tax package which Bush a a enthusiastically endorsed after initial opposition would have raised $1.6 billion in revenues Over five years according to Treasury estimates. But democrats regard these estimates As Wishful analysing. The democrats confronted by a last minute presidential plea to vote the tax proposal up or Down called this move a ploy and said no. Any tax cutting to Spur inc Economy even with congressional hearings scheduled for december is unlikely to take place before the new year and could take months longer. Big Money tax cuts next year seem unlikely Given the worsening of the budget deficit during the economic slowdown